a secret fortold, a different ending
by shinouyuki
Summary: a boy wanders around to find out the secret of his family's tradition that was given to his sister. ending 1... a messed up ending


_if you would look at an apple from the outside, would it still be an apple from the inside? But if there was a maggot within the apple, then what would you call that apple? _

_I'd call it an 'apple' first, and then simply add 'a rotten one'._

"Hey! Natsu! Where are you hiding in this time of day?" called a familiar voice.

"I'm quite relieved to just be standing here in the middle of the field if you don't mind," replied the self-defiant girl.

"Fine, fine. Do as you like. I mean, who am I to tell you what not to do?" the voice replied in deep sarcasm.

"Why you're my stupid little brother named Seishi. Or have you just forgotten your place in our household my dear boy?" mocked Natsu.

Natsu is the eldest of the three in the Kawabara family and Seishi is the youngest. Although age would not matter in the status between boys and girls, Seishi knows that there is one thing he cannot rule over—his sister's knowledge.

"I haven't," was the soft response of Seishi, "and I don't think I ever will."

"Good, then leave me be if you will do so kindly," was the undisturbed response of Natsu.

In the lives of three young teenagers surrounded by nature's infinite blessings, they are all faced by the trials set by their parents.

Natsu is not necessarily the wisest; however, it has been a tradition in their family that the first born child is to be given the secret knowledge passed down in their blood line. This secret is unknown to all of the members of the family except for those who were first brought up—whether or not their parents know the secret themselves. As to why this has been the tradition of their ancestors, even I cannot tell, for I was not blessed to be the first born.

Kiari is the one that followed Natsu and although she was not imparted with the knowledge of the first born, she was as sharp as a knife when the situation required more from her. Being as 'sharp as a knife' does not necessarily tell us that she is more intelligent than Natsu, but it does describe her in such a way that we can conclude she is a master of great planning—so much that it can even hurt. Kiari is not even the best fighter among the three—for that role belongs to Seishi—but in a way she is more talented than them.

Seishi is the only boy of the family and also the pride of their father. All of his father's skills and abilities went to Seishi; but Seishi went further than that in his training, in fact, he topped all the competitions in their district. Unfortunately, his father did not allow him to compete anywhere else, just to make sure he does not make a fool of himself. Seishi is wise in terms of logical thinking, mostly when it comes to fighting, but is ignorant in most other subjects.

"Who am I to try and find my own place in this family, Kiari?" asked the puzzled young boy.

"That is a tricky question indeed. Would you like for me to answer you plainly or more like how I think Natsu would reply?" said Kiari with a great big smile.

"Your smile seems to me like a flash of lighting that would soon be followed by the sound of booming thunder," was Seishi's reply.

Both of them laughed horribly as they thought of what Natsu would have replied to Seishi's question a moment ago.

"Do not worry yourself with such nonsense my brother," was the sweet reply Kiari gave, "I too, shall waver in my beliefs if you start to ask me such trivial things."

After a while, Seishi said "I am sorry to have bothered you with my foolishness. Thank you for your time."

"And thank you for yours, as well," was the final goodbye of Kiari as she sent off to prepare for the next meal.

It was still afternoon when Seishi had left after talking to his two sisters. He still wondered about his place in such a confusing family. He had wished many times in his lifetime to be treated higher than his sisters, just like most of the families do. Alas, even his own confidence was covered by the mist his sister Natsu has left behind, and left him as black as the simple working ants appeared.

"If in this life I were different," he started to say to himself, "then I could have done as I pleased without comparing myself to a mere…"

His thoughts trailed off as it wondered to find the perfect word that could describe the people to whom he felt unjust with. After a while, he felt sleepy; and soon enough, his eyes were slowly departing from the beautiful sunset he had wished to see. It was as if he was floating above everything, as if nothing mattered anymore and as if he had just left the world in vain.

It was just as I had described it, he really had left his world in vain, without ever knowing the answer to his questions and most of all without ever knowing that he really was the center of everything—he just never realized that that 'knowledge' was something he knew all along. The secret was something that belonged to him and something he always treasured but never really understood. Both his sisters did understand and accept that fact, but they were still unsure as to how to teach their brother about it, so their parents devised a 'training' that obviously failed in the end. As I said, even I did not know why the tradition was to pass it to the first born, but I do know the secret is as true as ever. It is that the world can never really be different from how you look at it; it will never change, however, your opinion of it will always change and you will always end up wanting to create an opinion different from what you already have. I guess it's just like being a first born, you are told to be the new born and the special one until you change your view of yourself into the protector of the second one until it passes through the stage of being the responsible and more adult-like one. However, it is still the same—the first born is always special for it will always be the new born at 'that' time and still be the protector of the second while discovering the responsibilities of being an adult.


End file.
